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Bengaluru Blasters skipper Mayank Agarwal's maiden century in the Maharaja Trophy helped his side post a mammoth total against Mysore Warriors at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium and win the match by 10 runs. Debutant Codanda Ajit Karthik showed some fight with his 30-ball 70 but in the end, it was not enough to take the Warriors over the line on a high-scoring ground.
Blasters' skipper Agarwal won the toss and elected to bat first. His opening partner EJ Jasper departed after scoring just one run from six balls. Jagadeesha Suchith dismissed him in the third over. After a slow start, Agarwal decided to take on Suchith in the fifth over. He used his feet well and hit him over his head for two consecutive sixes. Dega Nischal played second fiddle to his captain. In the ninth over, Agarwal reached his half-century from 31 deliveries. At the halfway stage, Blasters were 88/1.
Jagdeesh was brought back into the attack in the fourth over. He finished his spell with the wicket of Nischal to break the partnership. He scored 29 runs from 25 balls in the 97-run partnership. Shubhang Hegde contributed with a 17-ball 24 whereas Agarwal neared his century. In the 18th over, he hit Manoj Bhandage for a six over long-off to reach three figures. In the penultimate over, he was deceived by the slower one and lost his wicket. The opener's 57-ball 105 was laced with nine fours and six sixes.
Suraj Ahuja finished the penultimate over with a six. In the final, he went on a six-hitting spree against Bhandage. He contributed with an unbeaten 10-ball 35 to take Bengaluru to 212/4.
The run chase got off to an electrifying start. CA Karthik hit Gaurav for two sixes and a four in the first over. Ravikumar Samarth took the attacking approach as well and gave Gaurav a similar treatment in his next over. In the fifth over, Samarth hit LR Kumar for three consecutive fours. But Kumar had the last laugh He departed for a 16-ball 35. Karun Nair started off with a boundary. In the sixth over, Karthik hit two sixes and three fours off Tanish Mahesh's over. Warriors had 88/1 on the board after powerplay overs.
Karthik reached his half-century from just 22 balls, the fastest on debut in the league. Skipper Nair struggled to get going and had a strike rate below 100. Meanwhile, Karthik continued to attack. His knock came to an end in the 12th over. He went for a slog sweep against Mohsin Khan and got caught. He scored 70 runs from 30 balls including six fours and as many sixes.
After Karthik's wicket, wicketkeeper-batter Shivkumar Rakshith and Bhandage got out for single-digit scores. Suchith played a cameo of 9-ball 19 but became Mohsin's fourth victim of the day including Nair’s wicket. Nair scored 32 runs from 34 balls. In the final few overs, Shoaib Manager’s little cameo game Warriors some boost. In the final over, 22 runs were needed. Monish Reddy hit a six but 22 runs were too many to chase down. Warriors posted 202/8 and lost the match by 10 runs.
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